Methods of preparing chemical products



Patented Sept. 17, 1946 r METHODS OFPREPARING CHEMICAL PRODUCTS Lee Irvin Smitli,.Minneapo1is;Minn., andWilliam.

B.'Renfr0w; 51a, Charlotte, N; assignors'to Reg'ents-ofthe University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation-of Minnesota N0 Drawing. ApplicationAugustZ,1941, Serial No. 405,796

7 3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to'derivatives of theto'copherols'and related substances and to the method of preparing such derivatives.

Contemporary advances in the knowledge of nutrition andmedicine in'the medical and veterinary fields have developed the importance of substances having biological activity. Substances designated as the tocopherols have beenshown tube the primary compoundsexhibiting vitamin E activity and much WOIk' has been carried out to increasethe' knowledge concerning these compounds for clinical and veterinary uses; To accelerate the" accumulation of this knowledge, standardtest conditions-have been established to evaluate the comparative strengths or V potencies of test materialsby the use'of standard animals, usually white rats; It has been'established that results thus obtained on standard testtanimals may'normally' be projected and applied to other mammals and to human beings by the application" of factors established byclinical tests relating to compositions other than' those exhibiting vitamin E activity.

Extended clinical tests on human beings require relatively long periods of'time and therefore the-mode of'utilization of" any medicalor dietary improvement; whetherin the vitamin-field or'in other medical or dietary fields, maybe developed only after years of study; but'this does notprecl'udevaluable utilization of" specific materials such as the' tocopherols and their derivatives within" the purview of. available information.

Therefore, it is logical and proper'that considierable Weight be given to findingsdevelopedih the tests with standardized test" animals.

Co-pending application Serial No. 211,077, Patent 2.2452054; and"otherapplications, describe processesfor'synthesizingtocopherols; A further. invention, as described in this application, resides in: the-process for making stableand' useful derivatives of thetocopherols.

It isa'n object of the invention to prepare derivativesof thetocopherols, which derivatives retain' the biological activity of the primary tocopherolitself, and yet assume various desirable physical characteristics which assist in' utilization of the compositions;

A further object'is to prepare a nonetoxiereaction product which is suitable for. clinical use and has" vitamin E activity substantially equivalentto the a-tocopherolcontent, on the molecular basis; but which has modified chemicaLand physical properties, particularly. that. of being a solidrather than a liquid.

A further object is to provide a process for pre 1.!

paring di-basic' -acid anhyd'ride-reaction products of the tocopherol'sl More specifically, one object is to prepare a calcium salt of the acid succinate of a-tOCOphEIOl,

A polybasic anhydride is required in the presthat the desired compound can be prepared by first proceeding through an. intermediate step, by

treating a selected tocopherol with a Grignard reagent. such as methyl, ethyl or isopropyl maga nesium iodide, bromide or chloride. .The; alkyl group of the Grignard reagent is preferably chosen so that the alkane subsequently generated in the reaction will be volatilized at thetempera tures. used, and therefore readily separated;

Thus, where the'methyl-Grignard reagent is used, methaneis liberated, similarly, Where'tlieethyl G-rignard is used,.ethane is liberated: If, the hydrocarbon liberated is not readily volatilized', it mayineyerthelessbe separated by use of. appro= priate procedures.

After reaction of. the tocopherol with the G'rignardireagent; thereacti'on product is 'treatediwith.

a free acidfhaving one acid group of the starting (ii-basic acidesterified with the tocopherol is formed in place of the magnesium halide. The

free acidphaving one group esterifiedwith these-- lected tocopherol', other hydroxy chroman or hydroxy coumaran, is a new and useful intermediate which may beused-for. the formation-of a wide variety of further'compounds. Thus, it may bereacted with alkali metal salts orbases toform an ester'salt" of the polybasic acid, in which one,

acid group has been. esterified with tocopherol', and the other converted to a salt.

This invention is illustrated by the'following example which, however, must. not be taken as any limitation upon the. invention describediand claimed.

Eztampl'e a-tocopherol (4:91 g.) was dissolved in: ethyl ether" c0.) and a 5:%- excess; based on the: tocopherol, of propyl magnesium chloridein ethyl Wasadded a-nd' the fi'ask r-ins'edwith anadditional 1000; of di'oxane; The reaction mixture was then; stoppered and? allowed to stand overnight; at

room temperature, after which it was heatedon a steam bath for four hours. 'It was then poured into water, the reaction mixture acidified with dilute hydrochloric acid, extracted with ethyl 3 ether and the ether solution dried, by introducing thereinto a solid drying agent. The solution was then filtered to remove the drying agent and the ether evaporated from the filtrate.

There remained 5.88 grams (97.2% yield) of the acid succinate of it-tocopherol.

This was then dissolved in methanol (25 cc.) and concentrated ammonia (1 cc.) was added, followed by the addition of a solution of calcium chloride in methanol (13 00., 100% excess). A voluminous precipitate formed. The mixture was thoroughly stirred for ten minutes and more concentrated ammonia (3 cc.) added. After further stirring, the precipitate was allowed to settle, the liquid decanted off and the precipitate washed with acetone. The solid is dried for a short time at 100 C. in a vacuum, after which it was dissolved in hot dioxane (100 cc.) and reprecipitated by pouring the solution into water (150 cc.). The liquid was decanted off, the solid washed with acetone and dried in a vacuum desiccator. The solid was dissolved in a minimum amount of hot dioxane and the hot solution filtered, after which the filtrate was cooled. A voluminous precipitate formed. Two volumes of acetone were then added, mixed thoroughly and the liquid decanted off. The solid remaining after decanting was washed with acetone and dried for a short time in a vacuum at 100 C., dissolved again in a minimum amount of hot dioxane and allowed to crystallize from the cooled groscopic solid that latherswhen shaken with water but is only very slightly soluble in water. The salts of ammonium, potassium, and chloromagnesium yield oils by a similar process. The barium salt is a solid.

. Maleic anhydride,, phthalic anhydride, and

- droxy coumarans and similar compounds.

Many obvious variations may be made in the invention herein illustrated and described without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed. 1

We claim:

1. The process comprising reacting a compound selected from the group consisting of hydroxy chromans and hydroxy coumarans with a Grignard reagent, reacting the resultant mixture with a polybasic acid anhydride, and acidi fying the reaction mixture. 2. The process comprising reacting pound selected from the group consisting of hydroxy chromans and hydroxy coumarans with liquid The solid was then washed with acetone Hydro- Carbon gen Calomm Per cent Per cent Per cent Calculated for (CaaHsaOshCfi 72. 10 9. 75 3. Found 72. 27 9. 70 3. 37

Rigorously conducted vitamin E assays with standard test animals shows that the compound is fully equivalent to a-tocopherol on a molecular basis, and the compound is effective in increasin reproduction when used as a dietary supplement in the food mixtures fed to fowls such as chickens, ducks, turkeysand the like and food mixtures for fur bearing animals such as foxes and mink. For such uses, the calcium succinate salt of tocopherol is especially desirable in that, it is stable in air, soluble in fats and insoluble in water.

Other metallicsalts of any of the metals may be prepared in an ahalogous fashion by neutralizing the polybasic acid ester of the selected tocopherol by the appropriate metal base or by treatin the ester with selected salts of'appropriate metals. Where the finished product is used for medical or dietary purposes, the metal selected for formation of the salt is, of course, non-toxic. For other purposes where the matter of toxicity is unimportant, other metals may be used.

The sodium salt so prepared is a slightly hya Grignard reagent, reacting the resultant mix ture with a polybasic acid anhydride, acidifying comthe reaction mixture, and recovering the 'acid polyhydric acid ester of the selected starting ma-" terial. I a

3, The process comprising reacting a compound selected from the group consisting of hydroxy chromans, and hydroxy coumarans witha Grignard reagent, reactin the resultant mixture with a polybasic acid anhydride, acidifying the reaction mixture, and reacting the acidified product with a metallic base.

4.The process comprising reacting a. compound selected from the group consisting of hy-' droxy chromans, and hydroxy coumarans witha Grignard reagent, reacting the resultant mixture with a polybasic acid anhydride, acidifying the reaction mixture, reacting the acidified product with a metallic base, and recovering the salt 01' the acid polyhydric acid esterof theselected starting material.

5. The process comprising reacting a tocopherol with a Grignard reagent, reacting the re-, sultant mixture with succinic anhydride, and

acidifying to form the acid succinate of the sultant mixture with succinic ahydride, acidifying, and reacting the resultant product with compound presenting an available reactive cal cium ion, to form the calcium salt of the acid succinate of the tocopherol.

7. The process comprisingreacting iz -tocoph} erol with an alkyl magnesium halide wherein the alky1 group corresponds to an easily volatilized alkane, reacting the resultant mixture with succinic anhydride, acidifying the mixture, and re LEE IRVIN SMITH;

WILLIAM RENFROW, JR. 

